Talya Swissa on the UN Business and Human Rights Forum

By Talya Swissa, Engagement Lead Social Transformation, World Benchmarking Alliance

The 13th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights was one of the busiest ones to date, with more than 2,000 participants. This isn’t surprising, given the possibility of upcoming EU legislation and other policy interventions such as the Japanese Guidelines on Respecting Human Rights in Responsible Supply Chains. We’ve particularly noticed a spike in investor representatives and sessions focusing on the role of investors to champion responsible investment practices.

As part of the Development Dialogue series hosted by the UN Special Rapporteur on Right to Development, the World Benchmarking Alliance organised a session to provide a comprehensive overview of trends from 5 years of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark on corporate respect for human rights. The session brought together diverse stakeholders, including representatives from UN agencies, civil society organizations, private sector entities and investors to promote dialogue, foster partnerships, and encourage collective corporate actions on human rights. Candriam, a member of the Investor Alliance for Human Rights, shared challenges and opportunities of engaging companies on human rights.

My main reflection from the event is the tangible impact that individual and collective investor action is having on companies’ performance in respecting human rights. Progress by companies has been far too slow – the rate of companies taking meaningful action to respect human rights, after being assessed five times in our Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, has remained stagnant. In contrast, companies engaged on human rights by their investors through the Investor Alliance for Human Rights have improved 15% more quickly than those that weren’t. Investor pressure is instrumental for getting businesses to concretely act to address impacts on workers and communities.

Another key takeaway from the discussions I participated in and observed is the power of long-term engagement with portfolio companies – building relationships and tracking progress over time. This is where the conversation can move from “do you have a human rights policy?” and “did you identify your human rights risks” to “what actions do you take to address your salient risks?” 

Finally, more than one investor representative noted that sharing leading practices with companies is an effective way to keep portfolio companies engaged. If investors can show that others in their industry have managed to establish a comprehensive human rights due diligence process, it shows that mitigation of negative impacts on workers is possible and creates healthy competition.

I highly recommend the Forum to investors as a unique space for exchange on responsible investment practices, engage with CSOs, government representatives, and in some cases affected stakeholders. I look forward to meeting more investor representatives in November.